The Beard was initially skeptical when I suggested that we paint our kitchen purple, and a fairly intense purple, at that. But he’s gotten used to it, and when he happened to see some photos of how our kitchen used to look, he couldn’t believe how much the purple improved the space. Literally, I get nothing but compliments – though sometimes these are paired with comments like “I really didn’t think it would be as great as it is.” Uh, thanks?

And hey, if you told me you were thinking of painting your kitchen cabinets a pretty wild shade of pink, I might balk just a little bit. But if this kitchen from Sweden.se is any indication, painting a kitchen pink can be totally delicious. While there are some projects that don’t lend themselves to a quick do-over, why not go bright and bold when it comes to paint? You can always repaint the following weekend!

Copper is a beautiful thing to bring into your home, whether in the form of a single copper colander or you’re outfitting your entire drain spout system and overhangs in it. Shiny or patina-ed, I love it, and here are some of the things I love. Hopefully they give you a few good ideas!

The color inspiration posts I occasionally put up are among my favorites, if only because they give me a valid excuse to sit at my computer browsing through photos of awesome interiors. Even if, say, pink isn’t your thing, how it’s used can still give you some insight into how you use colors in your own home. Right now, I’m loving red. If you’ve been reading long enough, you’ll know that my now disused home office is a deep cherry red that was hard as hell to apply (tinted primer is your friend, use it), so really, I’ve never not loved red. Some people, though, are a little afraid of red because it’s such a powerful, influential, and sometimes overwhelming color.

But I’m here to tell you, don’t be afraid. Red is awesome. See what I mean?

“Who doesn’t love a comfy, distressed, brown leather sofa?” is a question I saw once in a magazine, and the answer is me. I love comfy leather and I love distressed leather, but brown? *yawn* If your home is decked out in an amazing brown palette, that’s one thing. But why not get a little more colorful? Before I begin, I have to say that this post is for Kai Jones, who said: I would love to see a variety of options in leather furniture. Due to allergies I am supposed to only have plain wood or metal, or leather-upholstered furniture. Your wish is my command! (Variety? Yeah, I can do that.)

The benefits of leather furniture go beyond not absorbing dander and mites and such – leather furniture can be wiped clean with a damp sponge instead of needed a full shampoo, Aniline leather in particular can be deliciously soft, leather warms to your body temp on chilly days, and leather furniture is really, really durable. It’s not entirely maintenance free, of course, but what in this life is? I certainly wouldn’t kick a sweet red leather sofa out of bed.

Leather furniture can be traditional and classic and awesome, which I think is the main source of leather’s long lasting charm. How nice would it be, do you think, to curl up with a good book in this orange leather chair? Just keep in mind that all leathers are not created equal – after Aniline, there’s the sturdier but less soft semi-Aniline and then the extremely durable coated leather, which could be softer. (via)

If your tastes run toward the colorful, you probably adore Jamie Drake’s high-end interior designs as much as I do. His firm, Drake Design Associates(previously), has gained a worldwide rep for color schemes that are at the same time eclectic and sophisticated. Some may wonder how you can stay classy when you’re working with more than three main hues in a room, but Drake does it and he does it well.

These are the offices of Drake Design Associates, to give you one example of how Drake plays with color. With clients as diverse as Madonna and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he must of course design spaces that aren’t as richly colorful, but even his neutral interiors feel bright and brilliant.

I count one, two, three… four patterns in this pretty pink and gray bathroom. There’s the flamingo (or as my daughter calls them, flamenco) wallpaper, two hand towels with paisleys, a third hand towel featuring a different pattern, and the the pattern on the tablecloth, which could be anything for all I can see. Mixing patterns – or mixing too many patterns – is sometimes considered a decorating no-no, but if your patterns come from the same palette and aren’t crazy complicated, you should be golden!
(via)

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Manolo the Shoeblogger is not Mr. Manolo Blahnik. This website is not affiliated in any way with Mr. Manolo Blahnik, any products bearing the federally registered trademarks MANOLO®, BLAHNIK® or MANOLO BLAHNIK®, or any licensee of said federally registered trademarks. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the author.